A 50-year-old Ponchatoula man was sentenced Thursday to 15 years and three months in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy involving the trafficking of more than five kilograms of cocaine from Houston to Bogalusa, according to U.S. Attorney Dana Boente's office. Anthony Smith admitted in December that he drove to Texas with and on behalf of Derek Moss on several occasions to get cocaine, according to Boente's office.

Agents saw Smith meet with a cocaine dealer, Luis Colon, on one occasion, Boente's office said, and on another occasion followed Smith, Moss and Todd Mark from Texas to the LaPlace area. Authorities stopped Smith on Interstate 55, Boente's office said.

Authorities arrested Moss and Mark the same day, after a car chase through Metairie that ended on the Mississippi River levee. There, the two attempted to throw out nearly four kilograms of cocaine, according to Boente's office.

Moss will be sentenced in September. Mark will be sentenced in October. Colon's case was transferred to the Southern District of Alabama.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo also placed Smith on 10 years supervised release following his prison term. After sentencing, Smith was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his sentence.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agents, Louisiana State Police and the Bogalusa Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Boitmann was prosecutor.